1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to devices for enhancing structural integrity, and in particular, it relates to a device for remedying and preventing sagging in a wooden paneled garage door.
2. Background Art
Because garage doors are only supported at the width defining edges by rollers and rails, there is a substantial amount of stress at the center of the garage door. In wooden paneled garage doors, over time this stress results in the middle of the door sagging. Typical life expectancy is around fifteen years for wooden paneled doors, simply because of the sagging problem.
JERILA, U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,003, teaches a door stiffener consisting of a torsion bar for stiffening lightweight panel doors having a thin wood or composition panel and metal stiles and rails around the periphery. The stiffener uses brackets to engage the periphery rails and hold a torsion bar. It is designed to prevent twisting and racking of the panel. While the device of Jerila could be adapted to support multiple panels and panel joints using multiple brackets and a single torsion bar, it is not capable of remedying or removing the existing sag in a wooden paneled door. This is because sag in garage doors occurs in two directions. The first direction is normal to the plane of the door while the second lies in the plane and is coincident the transverse center.
HENSCHEN, U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,981, teaches an adjustable brace for use by carpenters in the erection and plumbing of vertical walls. The device consists of a pair of elongated struts axially coupled by a turnbuckle. The elongated struts each have a pivotally hinged anchor attached to their non-turnbuckle ends. The anchors are anchored by nails to the vertical wall and floor of the structure. Unfortunately, the device of Henschen is not well suited for use on wooden paneled garage doors.
What is needed is a tensive member which can be diagonally attached across one or more panels of a wooden garage door which remedies and prevents sagging of the garage door. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide such a device.